Text reading 'Broken' in red and black, with splattered and distressed effects, and 'Broken' in white with similar effects.

After the murder of her uncle, activist Māori photographer Emma returns from NYC to New Zealand to claim her inheritance. Once home she begins to have visions of a mythical monster called Broken Beak and as more family members die, Emma feels compelled to right an ancestral wrong.

With a mix of horror, suspense, and dark fantasy, Broken Beak is a haunting film that explores the consequences of unchecked greed, generational ecological trauma, and the natural world's power to seek justice.

Narrative Feature | 90 min | USA & New Zealand

Meet the cast

  • Close-up portrait of a young woman with dark hair, brown eyes, and natural makeup, wearing a dark green top, against a blurred blue background.

    Briar Rose

    “Emma”

  • Close-up of a woman with wavy brown hair and light blue eyes, wearing a black top, posing against a black background.

    Lydia Peckham

    “Jackie”

  • A woman with dark hair wearing a blue shirt, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.

    Katlyn Wong

    “Paula”

  • Close-up portrait of a middle-aged man with short, slicked-back dark hair, wearing a dark blue suit and white shirt, looking directly at the camera.

    Joel Tobeck

    “Peter Finch”

  • Close-up of a man with dark hair, brown eyes, and a beard, wearing a white button-up shirt, posing against a dark background.

    Rob Kipa-Williams

    “Hemi”

  • A woman with tan skin and dark brown hair pulled back, smiling and wearing a black tank top, standing against a gray background.

    Dayna Grant

    “Broken Beak”

  • Close-up portrait of a man with dark hair and light skin, wearing a gray shirt, against a dark background.

    Jonny Brugh

    “Robert Shaughnessy”

  • Headshot of a smiling man with dark curly hair and a beard, wearing a dark blue shirt against a plain background.

    Bala Murali Shingade

    “Officer Hardie”

  • A young man with short black hair, fair skin, and dark eyes, wearing a white t-shirt, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.

    William Zhang

    “Officer Hart”

  • A middle-aged man with short, dark hair and light stubble, wearing a dark denim jacket and layered necklaces, sitting against a plain light-colored wall.

    Bruce Hopkins

    “Gregory”

Written and Directed by
Christian Carroll

Produced by
Christie O’Loughlin

Executive Producers
Christie O’Loughlin, Larry Smith,
Larry Zoglin, Sui San Mui, Christian Carroll

Production by
Left Alive Ltd (NZ)
Without A Name LLC (US)

A young man in a t-shirt with a tattoo on his left arm, standing with one hand on his head and the other behind his back in front of a circular light background, in black and white.

Director’s Statement

Broken Beak is an allegorical story about an indigenous woman confronting the trauma of colonization, but framed in a body horror-fantastical thriller. The film’s antagonist exists in two forms: an admiral from the colonial era of Aotearoa and a contemporary billionaire CEO. Through these twin villains, I wanted to draw a line between the violence of colonization and the unchecked greed of capitalism—two forces that continue to destroy the natural world and the world in general.

I am part Native American and a member of the Choctaw tribe in Oklahoma. When the opportunity arose to make a film in Aotearoa—where my wife and producer, Christie O’Loughlin, is from —I knew I wanted to tell a contemporary story centered on an Indigenous character.

With Broken Beak, I set out to create a “popcorn” genre film in the spirit of early Cronenberg—at once visceral, visual, and entertaining—while also crafting a story that itself would serve as a thesis or argument. I wanted the arc of the story to be an encapsulation of an argument: that we must reject modern unchecked greed and return to indigenous wisdom.

As one character says, “We need monsters to scare us and keep the world alive.” The monsters in this film are not simply spectral; they are born from our histories, our systems, and our present choices - these monsters are not the ones we are taught to fear.
-Christian Carroll

Would you be interested in learning more about The Burning of Broken Beak? Reach out! We would love to hear from you.

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